Babus get too much to handle, Tiwari threatens to step down

Unlike his Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Mayawati, who has proved to be quite a terror to babus in her state, Uttaranchal Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tiwari has got so worked up over the functioning of state officials that he has threatened to resign and even quit politics.

The Chief Minister is obviously embarrassed at the slow pace of development works in the hill state as was evident at a public function here on Saturday. Inaugurating a horticulture centre near here, Tiwari got upset when an official failed to answer his query about the number of villages that the scheme will benefit. ‘‘I do not want to be known as the ‘Inauguration Chief Minister’,’’ he said. ‘‘It is a pity that there is no coordination between various departments. If the situation does not improve, I would quit,’’ an enraged Tiwari told the gathering.

Sources say this is the fifth such warning the Chief Minister has issued. It is a general feeling among the politicians as well as the masses that the ‘‘bureaucrats are running the show’’. Some ministers even approached Tiwari complaining about the babus. Tiwari has been warning the babus of the new state. ‘‘I do not want to act arbitrarily like Mayawati,’’ he said.